Navigating the role of teacher educator in the asynchronous learning environment: emerging questions and innovative responses

Abstract

As the COVID-19 pandemic has forced all Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to transfer teaching to online platforms, intricate questions in relation to remote teaching and learning dominate the discourse. Teacher educators (TEs) are now tasked with designing online modules, facilitating online learning, and providing direct instruction for students online. There is a dearth of literature which explores how TEs understand and enact pedagogies for the asynchronous learning environment (i.e. facilitate teaching presence). Also missing from the literature are specific features of professional development (PD) experiences which develop that essential knowledge base. This paper reports on a mixed methods study which explores how TEs are best supported to facilitate teaching presence in an asynchronous learning environment. 123 TEs from a range of disciplines across 15 TE institutions in Ireland, participated in the study. Data were collected from an extensive online questionnaire, individual semi-structured interviews and focus group interviews. Significant challenges in relation to planning for the asynchronous learning environment, fostering students’ authentic engagement with module content and cultivating student interactivity were unearthed. Findings also outline critical characteristics of PD experiences which, from a TE-informed perspective, positively impact knowledge growth with particular reference to teaching presence in an asynchronous learning environment.

Keywords:

• teacher educator
• teaching presence
• asynchronous learning environment
• professional development

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

T. J. Ó Ceallaigh

T. J. Ó Ceallaigh is a Director of Postgraduate Studies in Education in Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick, Ireland. His main research interests focus on instructional leadership, learning experience design, the pedagogy required for the successful integration of language and content instruction and on continuing professional development, with particular reference to language immersion contexts.